Snapdragon
by Little Flipendo
Summary: Eliza Harlow thought that being bit was the way her young life was going to end. Everyone around her had quickly fallen to the epidemic. She knew she was going to die and hated the fact. She would be leaving her baby girl to a world gone to the dogs. And they were so close to safety with a giant white farmhouse just around the corner... DARYL/OC
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hello! Welcome to my new Walking Dead story. This has been floating around in my mind for just about ever now and I really want wanted to give our Daryl Dixon some love. This will be an eventual Daryl/OC, shouldn't be that long though, before we get to some loving. I hope you enjoy. I own nothing but Eliza, Josi****e and whatever characters you don't know. I would love to have Daryl all to myself though...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter One **

Eliza thought that being bit was the way she was going to die. Over the pasted months everyone else had. Everyone around her had quickly fallen to the epidemic; succumbing to this horrid virus. How could she outrun the inescapable? The horrible end of turning out like _them. _The putrid smelling, decaying _walking dead_.

They were around every turn. They were waiting, lurking, stumbling around, looking for their next meal. Looking for the live flesh of a human that was becoming less and less frequent to come by. Eliza had seen the bastards sink their rotten teeth into at the skin of a fellow survivor and tear out chunks of muscle and tissue. Once they were done, nothing but the bones remains.

But here she was, lying propped up against a tree, waiting to be eaten. She was surprised none of the dead had found her as she continued to fade in and out of consciousness. This was where she was going to die. Not because so dead bastard took a bite out of her but because her own damn feet. She was going to die of blood loss all because she _tripped_ over a stupid rock. A large gash trailed up her thigh, her jeans split open as blood still ran wet. There was another wound on her side, the red blood staining her white shirt. Her skin was sickly pale from the blood she had lost. Her frail body struggled to breathe. She was going to die.

Eliza knew it and she hated the fact. She would be leaving a beautiful world, her only chance at life. She would be leaving her child, the barely four year old girl tucked into her side. The baby girl slept lightly against Eliza, holding tight onto her shirt, as if she was afraid Eliza might leave if she let go. Eliza felt more pain about leaving the young girl; it was all she could do to fight the oncoming death.

When Otis stumbled upon them, he thought for sure the two were dead or turning to walkers.

Otis walked softly toward them, in case one had already turned into a walker; every precaution had to be taken these days. Maybe he could save one of the red headed girls if the other wasn't turning. If he was lucky, they were both just sleeping. As he got closer, he noticed how dirty and run down they were. Twigs and leaves were scattered through their dirty hair. The older one was cut up, hurt badly by the looks of it, blood gushing from a wound on her thigh and maybe from her side.

_Snap!_

The large snapping sound sounded through the clearing. Otis cursed his luck; he had stepped on a branch. The sound startled the little girl and she was instantly awake, looking for the cause of the noise. Her bright blue eyes widened in fear as she took in Otis.

"Shh, I ain't gonna hurt ya. I promise ya that," he said softly to her. "I'm Otis. Is this your big sister?"

The little girl shook her head frantically, her knotted hair flying around her face. "Momma!"

Otis wasn't sure if the young girl was answering him or calling for the older girl. The woman looked too young to be a mother. Eliza's green eyes opened then, waking at the sound of her daughter's voice. Her head was in a fog. She noticed her young girl starring and turned her gaze to Otis. Shock registered on her face as she scrambled to hold her daughter closer while trying to grab her gun. Her moves were clumsy and slow. She couldn't see right, much less processes the situation well.

"Please don't hurt us!" Eliza begged, her voice a wispy southern drawl.

"I'm not gonna. Are ya bit?" Otis asked, referring to the spots where blood seeped out of her.

"No, no. Not bit," she told him. "I just fell."

"Then I'm here to help," he told her. "I live on a farm nearby. The owner can stitch ya up and give you a place to stay."

Otis shouldered his gun before bending down and scooping the young women into his arms. She tried to fight the blackness that wanted to take hold of her again in case the man was not what he made himself out to be, but her body relaxed and she passed out in his arms.

Otis turned to the little girl who looked unsure of what to do. "Can ya walk?" She nodded. "Well come on then, young one. I bet my wife has some sweet tea and food goin'. I betcha your starvin'."

She young girl smiled at the thought of food and walked toward the giant man. She grabbed a handful of his jeans to make sure she wouldn't lose her way. They started off toward the farm, Otis taking it slow so the little girl could keep up with him.

"Can ya tell me your name, sweetheart?" he asked her.

"Josephine," she said brightly, her blue eyes twinkling up at him.

"Well Josephine, I'm Otis."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hi! Thank you to all that gave my story a chance and liked it! Thank you to Love Sucks Just Admit it, Elena, VampWolf92 and HarlowEmeraude. It's actually funny because Eliza and Josie's last name is Harlow. Thanks to all who favorited and followed, you are all sweetheart and made my days :)This has been floating around in my mind for just about ever now and I really want wanted to give our Daryl Dixon some love. I'm also going to incorporate Hershel's children from the comic series. I mean, most of them are going to be dead except for the ones in the show sooo. Yeah. I own nothing but Eliza, Josi****e and whatever characters you don't know. I would love to have Daryl all to myself though...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

As Otis and Josephine walked up to the house Beth and Jimmy were sitting on the porch, holding hands and enjoying the summer heat. The farm was away from most civilization and since the beginning of the epidemic, there was not much activity. A few stray walkers roamed the fences but Otis always dealt with them, placing them inside the barn. Life had gone on for them, even after a few of their own fell to the disease.

The couple noticed Otis walking, not with a kill for dinner, but with the two girls, one limp in his arms. Beth stood quickly and went to alert everyone inside the farm house. As Otis drew nearer to the old farm house, Hershel Greene rushed out to meet him. A worried look passed over the old man's as he ran to them. Patricia had come out a well, waiting on the porch with Hershel's oldest daughter Maggie, as well as Beth and Jimmy.

"Otis, what is goin' on? Who are they?" Hershel asked him as he hurried over to him.

"I found them in the woods. She's lost a lot o' blood. Said she tripped. The little girl seems to be just fine," Otis replied, quickly looking down to the young strawberry haired girl.

"Alright then. Bring them inside and place the oldest on the bed in the front room," Hershel replied, sighing, wiping a hand down over his weathered face. "I'll have Maggie tend to the little girl."

"Okay," Otis grunted. Having carried the girl for so long, she was starting to become heavy, despite her light weight.

Hershel turned and yelled up to the house, "Patricia, can you go get my medical bag all set up?"

Patricia nodded, running off to the house ahead of them. Hershel wasn't a human doctor, but a veterinarian. Through his studies however, he had learned to treat humans as well. Being the father of three boys and four girls, who played rough with one another all around the farm, it saved Hershel many trips to the hospital when his child needed stiches or thought a bone was broken.

Otis and Hershel rushed into the house behind her. Hershel was already looking her over as they walked quickly, taking in what was wrong and alerting Patricia to what he would need to treat her, "She's got two large cuts, one on her thigh and the other on her stomach. Her face is bruised, I bet the rest of her is too. I'm gonna need thread and a needle to stich her up and disinfectant. They don't look very pretty."

"Let's just hope she doesn't need a transfusion," Patricia said as they placed the girl down on the bed, noticing the amount of blood on her clothing and on Otis.

"Wouldn't be able to give her one if she did," Hershel replied grimly.

At the jostling movement from being placed on the bed, Eliza briefly opened her green eyes. Eliza was quickly overwhelmed when she felt hands on pulling on her clothing and moving her around. Pain ricochet throughout her body. She had no idea where she was and the first thought was that dead were pulling at her, trying to eat her. She screamed, trying to make her limbs push off the dead. She had a baby to keep fighting for.

"Get off! Get off!" she whimpered, crying softy at her oncoming death.

As she fought against them, Hershel and Patricia tried to hold her down. Otis had grabbed her legs to keep her from kicking.

"Ma'am, I'm Hershel Greene. I'm gonna try and stitch you up. I'm tryin' to help ya," he said, leaning over Eliza's frightened, tear stained face. "Stop fightin' us."

Comfort slowly came to Eliza from the old man's soft voice. She took in his weathered face and slowly her body relaxed against the plush bed. They weren't dead. They weren't trying to eat her. They were only trying to save her and in that moment she thanked every god possibly. Someone above her was looking out for her, giving her another chance to fight on in this new world. She still cried, tears streaming down her face, out of thankfulness, out of pain, and as a thought struck her, out of fear.

"My baby…" Eliza murmured, anxiety filling her when she couldn't feel or see her child; all comfort leaving her. "Where's my baby?"

"She's with my daughters. She in good hands with them. Can you tell me your name? Are you allergic to anything?" Hershel questioned.

"Eliza… Harlow," she managed to get out slowly, the blood loss starting to mess with her head.

"You allergic to anything?" Hershel asked again.

"No… no…" she mumbled, shaking her head as if to clear it.

Patricia let go of her, quickly going to the task of undressing the thin girl. She pulled off the shirt the best she could, pealing it away slowly from the cut on her left side. Her battered torso held many bruises, many scars, and down her right side, a large tattoo was permanently residing there. As she took the scars she noticed some of the bruises yellowing. There were a few though, by her hips that looked like fingers. She spared a wary glance at Eliza's face, taking in the large bruise that surround her right eyes. They weren't bruises you would get from tripping.

"Hershel, you were right. Really bruised up. Might wanna check out her ribs," Patricia told him, keeping her thoughts to herself even though Hershel might eventually catch onto her wave link.

Eliza tried hard to keep conscious again but when she felt someone's hand on her thigh the pain escalated, she let out a strangled cry and fell back, collapsing back into darkness, lying limp on the bed. Hershel stopped in his movement. He was trying to get a closer look at the cut before cutting her out of her pants. He was sort of thankful she had passed out again, it would save her a lot of pain as he disinfected and stitched the cuts.

Josephine started to cry from the doorway as her mother stopped talking but Maggie and Beth ushered her out, leaving Hershel, Patricia and Otis to tend to Eliza.

"I want momma," Josephine cried repeatedly, her round face scrunched up as tears fell down her grimy face. She fought against Maggie who held her little body, keeping her from reaching her mother.

"She's gonna be okay. She just has to have her cuts all fixed up," Maggie told her, crouching down to her height. "I'm Maggie Greene and this is my sister Beth. Can you tell us your name?"

"Josephine," she sniffled. "Momma calls me Josie. I want momma."

"That's a pretty name," Beth told her, ignoring her request. Josie smiled at her, her tears drying from her eyes.

Maggie felt her heart clench. Her mother's name had been Josephine. She had died a while ago, from a random heart attack. It had happen very suddenly and before any medical treatment could arrive to the farm, Maggie's mother had already passed away. Hershel and Maggie had been helpless. The death was hard. Maggie had been very close to her mother and still missed her to this day. Recently, Maggie was glad she was dead, so she wouldn't have to deal with this zombie apocalypse.

Maggie didn't dare mention this to the little girl, to the little Josephine.

"It's nice to meet you Josie. Why don't you come with me and I'll give you a bath while Beth gets you some supper. Would that be okay?" Maggie asked the tiny girl, trying to distract her.

Josie nodded and reached for the older girl's hand. Maggie smiled and led her upstairs to bathe.

"Jimmy, would you go up into the attic and pull out one of the boxes that hold Beth or mine old clothin'? There's got to be somethin' that would fit this little girl," Maggie asked, knowing that the clothes Josie had on needed to be thrown away, to far beyond help.

Jimmy agreed, passing them on his way up to the attic. Maggie pulled Josie away from where her father was trying save Josie's mother, into the bathroom where she would try to make the little girl look human again.

* * *

When Eliza came too, it took her a minute to realize where she was again. After a streak of anxiety went through her, followed by realization, she calmed down and relaxed into the worn in bed under her. Never did Eliza think that she would be sleeping in a bed again; the cover tucked tight around her and a pillow under her head. The only thing missing was her little girl bouncing on the bed to wake her up to make blueberry pancakes.

She lifted the blankets from body to inspect the damage. Her side and thigh were wrapped tightly in white gauze, enabling her from seeing the damage. Some of the bruises had cleared up. The dark ones had started to fade to yellow and the yellow ones had faded even more, which she was thankful for. Eliza only hope her saviors had thought they were from the fall. Her clothing was gone, which Eliza wasn't too keen on; it left the scars all over her body open for inspection.

She tugged at the sheet to cover her body as she sat up. Her side burning in pain as she moved. She was careful not to move her thigh too much but even so, the smallest movement killed. There was medical supplies on the nightstand next to her. A large widow overlooked rolling acres of farm land that back up to the wood she and Josie must have been in. The sun was setting, casting a beautiful hue of colors across the land.

The door creaked opened then and bright head of reddish blonde hair peeked through. Eliza's green eyes started to water at the sight of her young daughter. A smile spread across the young girls face and she burst into the room. She barreled through the room, up onto the bed and into her mother's awaiting arms. Eliza did not feel the pain from her daughter throwing herself onto her body; she paid no mind to it as she crushed Josie's small body against hers. She cried into her daughter's hair, holding the most precious thing in her world as close as she could.

"Mama! You're awake!" Josie giggled against her.

"Have I been a sleeping a while, my little Josie?" Eliza managed through her tears, pulling her daughter back to look at her.

Josie was just as she left her, only a lot cleaner and smelling a whole lot better. Her hair was pulled bake into a French braid, showing off her pretty freckled face and tied off with a pink bow. Her clothes were new, clean, and not torn up. Her big blue eyes smiled back at her mother as Josie placed her small hands on Eliza's face.

"Yeah, momma. Don't ever do that again'!" Josie scolded.

"I'm very sorry, my darlin'," Eliza said, placing a kiss on her daughter's forehead. "I promise to never do it again. Have the people here been taking nice care of you?"

"Yeah! Maggie and Beth play with me and Maggie lets me feed the chickens with her! And I got ta help groom the horse! And Jimmy let me ride on the tractor with him!" Josie told her mother, happiness exuberating out of her as she retold her tales.

"I'm glad you have been having a good time," Eliza said smiling at her daughter. "Could ya hand me my flannel shirt and go get the man who has been helping me?"

"Yeah! Just don't go back to sleepy, momma!" Josie said before handing her the shirt and running off into the other room. "Mr. Hershel sir! My momma is awake!"

Eliza gingerly slide her arms into the sleeves; buttoning a few of the buttons to cover herself and the scars. She heard silverware clattering on dishes before heavy footsteps on the hardwood floor. Then before her stood was the white haired, old man that had saved her life. Behind him was the man who had found her in the woods, and three women she didn't know. She guessed the younger two were Maggie and Beth. There was another young man standing there as well.

"Eliza, it's good to see you up finally," the old man said walking closer to her side. "Do you remember my name?"

"I'm sorry, I don't," Eliza said, a bit embarrassed by her forgetfulness. "I remember a man picking me up and that's it."

"I didn't think you would. That's alright though. My name is Hershel Greene and this my farm. This is Otis McDaniel and his wife Patricia. He was the one who found you. They both helped me with dealing with your injuries. These are my daughters Maggie and Beth as well as Beth's boyfriend, Jimmy," Hershel explained. Otis was the big man who had found in the woods. He was a bigger man which contrasted his short wife, the blonde women with many laugh lines on her face. Maggie was tall with short brown hair and eyes. She looks kind and just around Eliza's age, maybe a year or two younger. Beth was blonde with the same brown eyes as Maggie. She was just a teen along with Jimmy.

"It is nice to meet you. Thank you so much for caring to me and my little girl," Eliza said smiled as her daughter climbed up into bed with her. "How long was I out?"

"Four days. You had developed a fever. It wasn't looking good at all. We were afraid you were turning over to one of the infected," Hershel told her. "Maggie, why don't you, take Josie back the dinner table. You all should go eat before it get cold."

Maggie stepped up and took Josie's hand. "Come on Josie, let's go finish dinner."

Josie hesitated, staring back at her mother. Eliza saw her worry. "Josie it's okay. Mr. Hershel is going to look over my cuts and then once you finished your suppa, you can come on back to me, okay?"

Josie nodded before leaving with everyone to return to their dinner. When it was only Hershel and Eliza left, he quickly set to the task of looking her over.

"She always came to check on you before dinner. Not to mention the countless times during the day," Hershel told her, smiling.

"She's my sweet one."

"She sure is," Hershel agreed.

"How high was the fever?" Eliza questioned.

"It was about a 103.4. It was quite high. Not as high as someone that has been infected gets. You must have gotten a touch of blood poisoning from these cuts," Hershel said, looking over the stitching on her thigh.

"You're a doctor?" Eliza asked, wincing as he prodded at her cuts.

"Just a veterinarian. Stitches are stitches no matter on a human or animal. However, I have read a lot of medical books," he replied with a kind smile. "These are clearing up quite nicely. Any pain anywhere?"

"My head is sort of throbbing. My thigh hurts worse than my side, especially when I move," Eliza explained, flinching again when he touched her thigh again.

"I'll give you some pain medicine after we get a little food into you. You are mighty thin and haven't eaten in days," Hershel told her. "Let me check your fever."

"I gave up most of my food to Josephine when we were in the woods. We had a good bag of food supplies and it lasted us a while. It helped I wasn't eating anything. She's a growing girl. My baby," Eliza explained, taking the thermometer.

As Eliza held the thermometer under her tongue, Hershel left the room and spoke to someone outside the room. When he returned, he explained he wanted Patricia to heat up some broth for her to eat, saying it would be the easiest for her stomach to handle. Hershel pulled the thermometer out her mouth and smiled.

"Only 99.4. That is a great change," Hershel said, gathering supplies to rewrap her stitches. "Now, you wanna tell me what happened? You can only get so much out of a four year old."

Eliza laughed a bit. That would be her Josie girl. Her baby was easily distracted at her young age and tended to ramble when telling a story. Collecting her thoughts, she spoke, "Our town had gotten overtaken very quickly. A few of the boys who were avid hunters came back stumbling and wanting to eat us all. I rushed home with Josephine and my husband was already packing supplies into our truck. We were going to try to get into Atlanta like the rest of the town before we were bit. There was shelter there, protection. When we saw the long line of traffic, Gabriel, my husband, decide we had better chances going on our own. Atlanta couldn't possibly take care of so many, especially when some of them were probably infected and looking for medical attention they weren't going to get. We figured it was going to be over run.

"We spent many days in the woods after our car ran out of gas. Josie never complained once, loving that she got this extended camping trip. My husband left us one morning to go hunting but he never returned. I waited the entire day and night but when he didn't show, I moved on, thinking he was dead. There was nothing I could do. I had no idea where he had gone and I was so afraid of those… _zombies_ finding us. So we moved on, just my little girl and I. I tripped and fell down a hill recently and then your man Otis found us propped up against a tree," Eliza told him. Hershel sat next to her carefully, listening to her tell her tale. Tears started to weld up in her eyes. "I felt so bad I couldn't go on. I never meant to leave her. I physically couldn't go on. My baby was going to be all alone…"

Eliza broke down then, sobs racking her body. Hershel placed a comforting hand on her arm. She felt horrible that she almost left her four year old daughter to fend for herself in a world full of dead trying to eat the living. Josephine didn't even understand what was going on in their world. She didn't know about the infection. She thought of them as bad guys, having only ran into them once or twice. Her poor baby would have never survived and the thought crushed Eliza because it would have been all her fault.

Josie came in then, trailed by Patricia, carrying a bowl carefully while taking the smallest of steps. She smiled brightly at Eliza. "Momma! I brought you soup!"

Eliza smiled at her daughter, wiping away her tear. "Thank you, baby girl. How sweet of you."

"Mrs. Patricia made it though," Josie explained, handing the bowl to her mother before jumping up onto the bed, her face becoming serious. "Mamma why are you crying?"

"Because momma is so happy to see you," she explained. "I've missed you so much."

"I missed you too!" Josie giggled.

"Thank you Patricia," Eliza said to the older woman before sipping the warm broth.

"Drink it slowly. You don't wanna upset your stomach," the older woman warned. She turned to Hershel then. "Why don't you go and finish dinner? I'll watch over Eliza."

Hershel agreed, his face conveying he was still saddened by Eliza's story and sobs, before walking out of the room. Even though Hershel had not done a thing against Eliza and gave her comfort, she relaxed around Patricia a lot more than she did around Hershel. Patricia took notice and gave her the conclusion to how Eliza got the bruises on her.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hello again! Thank you to mrskaz453 and VampWolf92 for their reviews. Thank you to everyone else that favorited or followed. Sorry that it took longer for me to put this chapter up. I had something else written but I felt like this chapter needed to be written before the other part was put up. Plus I a busy week. Good news, next chapter should be up sooner. I don't have a boyfriend here to distract me and some already written! Yay! Another piece of good news is I think only a few more chapters before Mr. Dixon arrives at the farm. **

**I own nothing but Eliza, Josi****e and whatever characters you don't know. I would love to have Daryl all to myself though...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

_It was the night before the world went to shit and Eliza was going to make homemade pizzas for dinner. Josie loved when they made their own pizzas and it was simple enough to make. She had made the dough earlier in the day and had just returned home from the store with the toppings she needed to assemble the rest of the pizzas. Her husband Gabriel had returned home from work in the time he was gone. _

_She found Gabe on the phone with a troubled look on his face, still dressed from work. She went to ask him what was wrong when he flashed her his warning face. She flinched, ducked her head and walked to the kitchen where she placed the food on the counter. She was just finishing washing her hands when Gabe hung up the phone and walked into the room._

"_Daddy!" Josie greeted happily and clutched onto his leg._

"_Hi sweetheart," he said placing a hand her head, ruffling her curls._

_Eliza smiled at the exchange. No matter what occurred between herself and Gabriel, she knew Gabe would always love their daughter. He has never nor would he ever hurt a single hair on her head. And if the day came and he did, that would be the day she would finally leave. She knew it would never come. Gabe spoiled their child rotten. She was surprised Josephine didn't have a huge head from how much she was spoiled. _

"_Momma and I are gonna make pizza!" she told him excitedly._

"_I bet it will be delicious. Go wash your hands," he told her pushing her into the direction of the sink. "That was the Jimmy. Apparently, he just got done bringing in a bunch of hunters to the hospital. They all had bite marks on them and were burning up with incredibly high fevers."_

_Her husband worked as EMT for Harrison Memorial Hospital. Eliza used to work for the hospital as well. She worked there right out of college for a little over a year. She quit when Josie was born and never went back. Of course Eliza wanted to, but there were plenty of reasons for her to stay home. _

_Grabbing a bear out of the fridge, he returned to what he was saying, "I asked him if he thought those boys were playing around with a bobcat, but he don' think it was. Jimmy sounded pretty shook up about it. Said it was nothing he ever saw before."_

"_The hospital will take good care of them," Eliza said hesitantly as she and Josie began to assemble the pizzas. _

"_Yeah," he agreed. Eliza breathed in a sigh of relief when he did not call her out for talking. "Just weird. Hurry up and make dinner. I'm starving."_

_He planted a kiss on her cheek and she smiled at him in return. She loved when he was sweet to her. Kisses on the cheek, holding her hand or even just simple loving touches. Those only occurred when he was in a good mood. He ruffled Josie's hair again, they child giving a giggle, before he went out the living room to watch TV._

_Later that night Eliza was tucking Josie into bed. It had been a good night. They had watched their shows together after dinner and Josie even got a dish of ice cream as a treat. Gabe had stayed in good mood all night, which Eliza thought wasn't going to happen after the look he gave her earlier. It was hard to pick up on his moods sometimes. _

_She pulled the purple quilt up close to Josie's chin as she tucked it in snug around her. Gabriel's mother had made it for Josie when she was born. The stuffed dog that she slept with very night, snuggled tightly in her arms, had been a gift from her father when Josie was born. Her baby girl never slept without either of the two. _

"_Momma?" Josie asked, her voice already tired with sleep._

"_Yes, baby girl?"_

"_You going to cry again tonight?" Josie asked, her innocent blue eyes staring straight into Eliza's green eyes._

_Eliza felt her heart tighten. She instantly felt like sobbing. Josie didn't know what happened between Gabriel and herself. Josie just thought her mother cried because she was sad. Eliza tried very hard to keep her daughter from seeing the truth. Sometimes she wasn't able to keep Josie from seeing the uglier side of her parent's relationship but being so young she really didn't understand. Of course, one day she was going to understand because Eliza knew the abuse would never stop. "I don't think so baby. Daddy was in a good mood tonight so that makes mommy happy."_

"_Good," Josie approved quickly. "Nighty night momma."_

"_Love you, darlin'. Sleep tight," she whispered, kissing her daughter on her freckled forehead before leaving the bright pink room. _

_She sat down in the family from on the couch next to her husband. Gabe had put the local news on and they were talking about some case of someone coming back to life in France. It was normal for the married couple to watch the news before heading to bed. There wasn't much happening, besides the strange case in France. _

"_In other news, there has been a have a wide spread of reports of cannibalism. Authorities believe this is the result of a new drug…"_

"_Or maybe America has just lost it," Gabe muttered, finally turning the TV off. He turned to her and grabbed her wrist tightly. Eliza felt her heart clench as she looked into Gabe's bloodshot eyes. "Let's get to bed."_

_Eliza's heart plummeted as she realized, she would be crying tonight. She had lied to her own daughter. Gabe dragged her roughly to their bedroom before throwing her roughly into the bed. She gasped for breath when she came roughly into contact with the bed frame. _

"_Gabe, please…" she pleaded softly, tears already welding in her eyes._

"_I'm stressed and this is what your here for isn't it?" Gabe sneered. _

"_You were in a good mood," Eliza said, her voice scared._

"_Yeah and the news set me off again," he replied, undressing himself. "I had a hard day. Get undressed Eliza."_

"_You drank too much tonight, love," she tried, trying to get him back off. "You're not thinking straight."_

"_I had three. I know what I'm doing," he told her, laughing. "Okay, I'm a little buzzed. I'll admit. If I was drunk I would have already hit you for all the questions."_

_Eliza knew that had been true. "Please Gabe."_

_Within a second of her plea coming out of mouth, Eliza found herself on the floor, her head extremely dizzy. The sound of his knuckles hitting the side of her face still hung in the air. Eliza lost function of herself as she laid there. Gabe grabbed a handful of her red curls, pulling her head back. She gave a sharp cry at the movement. He loomed over her, chest broad with muscle. She felt his breath at her ear. _

"_I said undress."_

* * *

Eliza woke up the next morning with Josie tucked into her side, curls spilled across her porcelain skin. She smiled softly as she brushed the curls off her face. Josie had always looked so much like herself. From the minute she was born, her own mother said that Josephine was going to take after her. Her porcelain skin was the same as her own. The only differences was that the little girl's face held half the freckles as Eliza's did and her eyes were defiantly her father's, right down to the color. Other than that, she look just like Eliza. Her hair was a mixture of blonde and red, but the curls were just like Eliza's.

Eliza sat up, careful not to disturb the girl and stretched as much as she could without feeling her stitches pull, which wasn't a lot. Her whole body felt stiff from sleeping which was a welcomed changed from feeling stiff from bruises. There was still pain in her side and thigh but her head pounded less.

She really wasn't sure what to do. Eliza was in desperate need of the bathroom. She was wary if she was going to be able to move her thigh but she decided to try anyway. The pain was strong as she moved her injured thigh gingerly off the bed. She gripped the bed tightly as she pushed up.

Her head was woozy as she stood straight for the first time in a while. She was careful not put too much weight on her injured leg. She stood there for a moment, a hand on her head as she waited for her vision to return the normal and for the room to stop spinning. Once the world stood still, she slowly shuffled to the door that housed a bathroom. She was thankful when she finally got to sit down on the toilet, the pain in her thigh had only grew worse with each of her steps.

When she opened the door to go back to bed, Maggie was opening the other door that led to the rest of the farm house. She gasped when she saw Eliza out of bed.

"What are you doing out of bed!" the short haired woman questioned, rushing to her side.

"I really had to pee," Eliza explained sheepishly.

"You should have hollered or something. All of us are up before the sun," Maggie said as she helped Eliza back to the bed.

Maggie's loud tone had woken Josie. She rubbed her eyes as she sat up. "Momma what's goin' on?"

"Nothing baby. Momma had to use the bathroom and Maggie didn't like that momma was out of bed," she explained to her sleepy daughter.

"I could have helped," the little girl offered.

"I could never wake you, sleeping beauty," the mother said fondly as she pulled the little girl into her arms.

"Seems like we're all up now," Hershel said as he entered the room, after hearing Maggie yell. "Maggie why don't you take Josie so she can get some breakfast. I need to talk to Eliza."

Eliza released her daughter as Maggie took her in her arms. Josie was still waking up as they left the room. Her daughter loved her sleep, just like her father. She sometimes couldn't get her daughter out of bed till ten or eleven in the morning. She always feared when Josie got to her teenaged years that she never would be able to get her out of bed.

"What do you want to talk about?" Eliza asked as Hershel started to unwrap her bandages.

"Well I wanted to check over your injuries and talk to you about staying with us," replied the old man.

"You'd like us to stay?" Eliza was in disbelief. She assumed that he would ask her to leave once her leg and side were healed. This was a complete shock to her. They were two more mouths to feed, to look after. Josephine was only a child and Eliza didn't have many survival skills.

"I can't kick you two out. Your thigh will take some time to heal and you won't be able to protect yourself and Josie well. And also, in all honesty, I enjoy having little Josephine running around," he explained. "A child brings bight hope in new world."

"She has a way of getting to you, doesn't she?" Eliza asked laughing softly, thanking the heavens that her daughter was so likable.

"She sure does," Hershel agreed. "I also have a feeling that you and her wouldn't last very long on your own."

"You're right. I can't even shoot a gun. Then gun I had I never shot. Whenever we ran into a walker, we ran the other way," she told him, ashamed at her survival skills. "I don't know how long that was going to keep us alive for. Can't hunt either. I have medical skills but it's all in delivery."

Delivery.

"Then I believe God was truly good to you the day Otis found you," Hershel told her.

She didn't really listen to his words. Her head raced once she thought of her skills as a delivery nurse. She had seen and helped countless women become mothers. She had seen the various stages of child birth. She had become a mother herself only four years ago. She knew the signs of pregnancy. and she started thinking they were beginning to apply to her.

It could be the stress but a mother knew.

"Before you are sure you'd like to let us stay, I feel like you should know something," Eliza said, her voice uneasy.

"What is it?" Hershel asked, looking up at her from her wounds.

"I'm not really sure how to stay it. I've been suspecting it for some time now. Actually it all just caught up with me now when I was talking out being a nurse. I'm not entirely sure. A mother knows though. You need to know though, if you are going to allow us to stay," she said, her voice low and afraid. She looked up at him with fearful eyes. Her heart was racing as she uttered six words that may get her and her daughter kicked out of this sanctuary. "I think I may be pregnant."

Hershel stared at her for a moment, taking in her words before he placed his hand on top of hers. Eliza breathing stopped as she awaited his answer. In her mind she thought he was getting ready to ask her to leave. A child like Josie could understand but a baby. He was going to kick her out. It was only about a minute before he answered her.

"That does not change my mind in any way."

"What?" Eliza was dumbfounded.

"You heard me, Eliza. I could never send you out there pregnant and with Josephine," he told her.

Tears came to her eyes. "Are you sure?"

"I am positive about that, Eliza," he assured her. "It only means that you need to be here with us even more. I'll send Maggie down to e local town to see if she can find a test, so we can be sure."

"Thank you Hershel. For everything," she said, her voice soft, placing her other hand on top of his, as her tears fell from her green eyes. "You're a saint."


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hello again! Thank you to mrskaz453 and VampWolf92 for their reviews. You too are great! Too sweet. I'm really sorry about the delay. I've been on vacation and thought I would be able to post from the shore but I honestly never finished much there. I finished a lot today in the car. I'm on vacation again for DCI Finals in Indianapolis. 10 hours on the road is a long time to write! Thank you to everyone else that favorited or followed. **

**I own nothing but Eliza, Josi****e and whatever characters you don't know. I would love to have Daryl all to myself though...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

It was the first day Eliza had been allowed out of bed. Hershel had wrapped her thigh tightly with gauze. Her side was wrapped a little less, as it wasn't giving her as much trouble being the smaller wound. She had recovered from the blood loss without the need of a transfusion which everyone on the farm was quite happy about. Hershel still found her too skinny, especially in her condition. He always made sure there was a bit more food on her plate. Sometimes, Eliza tried to slide it onto Josie's plate, still in the habit of giving her daughter more food, still thinking she needed it more. One of the Greene family members or Patricia always caught her.

Eliza was in fact pregnant. The three test she took proved it. It was great news—if the apocalypse had not happened. Gabe had always wanted a large family and she was just fine with that. She would have been fine with Josephine, her pride and joy. And the though became more and more her favorite when she couldn't become pregnant again.

Now the dead walked and it was not a safe world for a child to be born into.

However they all tried to stay positive about the ill-timed pregnancy. Josephine was incredibly excited to be a big sister. She lifted everyone's moral as she skipped about the house singing about being a big sister. It helped Eliza focus on the happier side of being pregnant instead of the fact that she might not survive and neither might the baby.

Josephine was outside in front of the porch chasing what looked like a moth. Eliza had ask to go outside with her, after being cooped up in bed for over a week. It was beautiful outside, though it would have been a little nicer if it was cooler. She sat on the porch swing with her legs stretched out across the seat. Patricia sat near her in a chair, sewing a hole in a pair of pants. She had offered to watch over Eliza as Hershel hadn't wanted her to be alone.

"You think they will be okay?" Eliza asked Patricia, referring to Otis and Jimmy who had decided to go back to where Otis had found the Harlow girls to look for their bags.

"I think they will be just fine. Otis knows these woods well and Jimmy has a good head on his shoulders," the older woman replied. "Don'tcha worry."

"I can't help but worry. They are putting themselves in danger for Josie and I," Eliza muttered softly.

"Worrying is gonna put stress on that baby of yours," Patricia reminded her.

"I know," Eliza assured, placing a hand on her stomach. "I can't believe I'm pregnant now. My husband and I have been trying ever since Josie was born. I just hope I don't lose her…"

"Have you lost children before?" Patricia looked up at Eliza, her eyes sad for the mother.

Eliza nodded, her face ashamed. "Two… but I don't think it will happen to this one."

"Because your husband isn't around?" Patricia asked knowingly. Eliza eyes snapped to Patricia's, wide and afraid. Patricia got up then and came to sit beside her on the swing. Her voice was soft when she spoke. "I saw the bruises."

"I-I h-had tripped," Eliza stuttered.

"Some were faded, darlin'. And I don't think you get a black eye from tripping over a rock. I saw the scars. I noticed how tense you become around men," she said. "Don't worry though, I don't think anyone else figured it out."

"How did you then?" Eliza questioned.

"When I lived near the city, I had volunteered at a women's shelter as a teenager. I noticed the signs but Otis has lost his temper sometimes so I know what those bruises look like," Patricia explained.

"You don't judge me for still loving him though, right?" Eliza asked, her green eyes wide and childlike.

"I still love Otis. But I have a feeling when Otis hit me the few times that he did, it doesn't compare to what your husband did to you," Patricia said.

"Gabe was a kind man. He was friendly and charismatic. He was EMT and always checked in on the patients he brought into the hospital. He always gave Josephine whatever she wanted. The look on his face when she was born…" Eliza smiled through the tears that started to weld in her eyes.

"But the abuse…"

"Never killed me. I love Gabe, despite his aggression. And I know he loved me. He didn't know I was pregnant those two times and he felt so horrible afterwards. You should have seen him. I know he would never raise a hand to Josephine," Eliza said, her voice steady. She would always defend Gabriel, no matter how many times he hit her or abused her. No matter his nasty words when he was drunk. No matter what. Eliza was his and she was blinded by love for him.

Patricia sighed. "I believe ya."

"You ought to."

The two women fell into silence as they overlooked the farm. Eliza watched as Josephine giggled away as she chased about the butterflies. Her daughter was so carefree. Eliza was glad to see this world had not changed her yet. It didn't even looked like it touched her. Her curls were unbound, bouncing around her shoulders as she giggled and ran about. Eliza couldn't see any weightloss on her like she could see on herself. Her eyes held no anguish, fear or sadness. She was just like the Josephine that Eliza had raised for the past four years.

"Now who did they bring back now?" Patricia murmured as she stood up.

Eliza looked to were the two boys were walking back from the woods; Eliza and Josie's bags on their back and a little girl walking between them. Patricia muttered something about going to find Hershel before she walked off the porch and off to the barn.

"Josephine," Eliza called out. "Come up here to momma."

The blue eyed child stopped her chasing and ran up to the porch. She was out of breath, huffing and puffing, as she sat down on the swing. She was all sweaty but smiling a huge smile, making the dimples on her cheeks stand out.

"Momma! Did you see me?" she chirped, her big blue eyes beaming. "I was running so fast!"

"I did, sweetheart. Did you catch one?" Eliza asked her as she brushed some of Josie's curls back.

"No," Josie said, her eyebrows furrowing together.

"That's okay," Eliza said, soothing her.

"I wish I could fly like them!" Josie exclaimed, all happiness returning to her.

Eliza pulled her daughter close to her. "I wish so too. I'd want blue wings, like the color of your eyes."

"I'd want pink!"

"How did I know you'd say that?" Eliza laughed.

"Momma, who's that?" Josie asked as she looked at Otis, Jimmy and the little girl between them. Hershel, his daughters and Patricia had joined them.

"I'm not sure. She was probably lost in the woods like us," Eliza explained.

The group turned then; Hershel, Maggie, Beth and Jimmy walking off toward the barn while the rest continued their way to the house. The girl looked to be around ten or eleven. Her hair was short and dirty, the blonde just peeking through all the dirt that it as coated in. She looked horribly scared and worn out.

As they reached the porch, Patricia introduced her. "Eliza, Josie, this is Sofia. Otis found her running from some of the turned."

"I'm glad you are safe," Eliza the young girl, smiling kindly. "I'm Eliza and this is my daughter Josephine."

"Everyon' calls me Josie!" Josephine exclaimed, giggling.

"It's nice to meet you," Sofia said kindly.

"Have you been on your own?" Eliza questioned, wondering just how a young girl could survive on her own for so long when she herself barely made it.

"No, I got separated from my group. A horde of walkers came through…" the young girl sniffled. "And I got scared and they chased me through the wood. Mr. Rick found me but more came after he led two others away. I haven't stopped running."

Eliza felt her heart go out for the young girl. Josie was too young to know the fear of the reanimated dead, but Sofia wasn't. She knew the danger and what happened if you were bit. She knew of the new epidemic and the catastrophic world they now lived in. Sofia knew the fear and Eliza could tell the fear plagued her mind like the dead plagued this new world.

"We'll take care of you," Patricia told Sofia lovingly. "Why don't we get you cleaned up and maybe Eliza can make you something to eat. I bet you are starving."

Sofia's brown eyes brightened at the prospect of food and followed Patricia into the house, ready to get clean and get a mouthful of food.

"Otis would you mind helping me into the kitchen?" Eliza asked, moving to stand up.

"'Course," the bigger man said, grabbing her hands and pulling her into a standing position. "Found your bags. Looks like they were untouched."

"That's good," Eliza commented as she hobble into the house. "Josie go get momma the peanut butter and the jam."

The little girl rushed ahead, eager to help. Otis helped Eliza as she slowly made her way to the kitchen. The pain wasn't as bad as it was when she first woke up. Her side was doing a lot better. Her thigh was a bit more difficult. Because of how deep it was, it was barely healed still. It bled from time to time, especially when she was up and about. Hershel said it had look like it might have touched the muscle, so she was looking at a longer recovery time for it.

Otis dropped the bags by the entry way to the kitchen before sitting down at the table. "Girl says her momma was in the group."

Eliza's heart went out to Sofia's mother. She couldn't imagine if Josephine was lost in the woods. She would go absolutely nuts with worry over her daughter. Shebe willing to bet money that was just what Sofia's mother was doing. "Poor woman. I can only imagine what she is going through."

"Told Hershel and Patricia that I'm gonna go huntin' tomorrow. Gonna look for her group while I'm at it," he said, wiping his face on a rag.

"Just be careful," Eliza said as she gather the bread, knife and a plate. Josie put the peanut butter and jam on the table next to her before climbing into a chair.

"Do you think Sofia will play with me?" Josie asked trying to get her finger into the sweet tasting jam.

Swatting her hand away, Eliza assured her daughter that Sofia would love to play with her, all she would have to do is ask. Putting the sandwich was simple enough; getting up to get a glass of water for the young girl was going to be a pain. Putting her weight onto good leg, she hobbled over to the sink.

"You want anything, Otis?" Eliza asked.

"No. I'm gonna go help Hershel. Hope the little girl settles down alright," Otis said before taking his leave.

"Stay cool," Eliza said before turning her warm gaze to her daughter who was still trying to get into the peanut butter. "Josephine Val Harlow, stop tryin' to get into that peanut butter!"

"But momma," her daughter whined.

Amused, Eliza went to the fridge and pulled out two apples. She grabbed another knife and plate. "How about some apples and peanut butter?"

Her blue eyes brightened. "Yeah!"

Eliza chuckled softly as she sat back down and waited for Sofia and Patricia. She cut up the apples for Josie and herself. She let Josie put the peanut butter onto the apple slices, moderating her so she didn't get _too _sticky. Josephine loved peanut butter. It was something Gabe had introduced to her because he loved it too. Eliza had found them on multiple occasions with two spoons and a jar of peanut butter between them. Eliza smiled fondly at the memories of the two of them.

A little while later, Sofia walked down with Patricia. The girl was noticeably cleaner, her hair hung straight around her shoulders, a mix between blonde and brown. Her skin was clean of dirt and she smelled a lot better. She must have been wearing some of Maggie or Beth's old clothes because they looked clean. She had a bright smile on her face when she saw the food on the table. Eliza pushed the sandwich and glass of water toward the empty seat.

"Come eat."


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hello again! Thank you to Amber, mrskaz453 and VampWolf92 for their reviews. I had a long chat with mrskaz453 about the abuse in this story and I really hope I don't upset any of you with it. I hope I don't upset anyone with anything. Things are gonna happen and I'm sorry if they do. Forgive me. I'm really sorry about the delay once again. This is going to go on a whenever I can update now because I entered college! Freshman year baby! So I am going to be getting busier and busier. Thank you to everyone else that favorited or followed. They really help me write. Daryl shall be in the next chapter! Yay! **

**I have a question: How would you like Daryl and Eliza's first meeting to go?**

**Hope to get some feedback.**

**I own nothing but Eliza, Josi****e and whatever characters you don't know. I would love to have Daryl all to myself though...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

Eliza was watching the girls when the quite farm life changed. It was an end to the serenity, to their slice of heaven. She heard Maggie scream out "Dad!" The one word breaking the tranquility of the early afternoon. Eliza looked out over the green fields. A man came running to the farm; two other's trailing far off behind him. Anxiety flooded Eliza like a dam breaking, the rush overtaking her easily. It wasn't Otis; the man was far too slim to be him. A stranger then. Eliza began to worry about what had gone wrong on Otis' hunting trip; who he might have ran into. She couldn't even tell if Otis was with them.

She yelled for the two playing girls to come back to her. Sofia and Josephine had been playing all day. Eliza could tell that Sofia was happy to be a kid again. Though Sofia was older than Josie, Josie was able to get the older girl to relax and have fun, to forget the ugly world for a day. Eliza had offered to watch over the new girl. Being a mother came naturally to her and wasn't like she could do much else. She was the only mother on the farm or so she figured. Patricia never mentioned a child. They had been tasked with washing clothes that morning, but Eliza had let them go after an hour seeing how bored they had been.

The two listened to her, running to her quickly, Sofia holding Josephine's hand. They knew there was no kidding around anymore. Sofia helped her up the stairs of the porch where most of the residents of the farm had gathered. The man was coming closer. Hershel stood wary of what was happening out in front of them; Jimmy was armed with rifle. Maggie had grabbed a bat. Eliza clutched the two girls behind her.

"What's going on?" Eliza asked, fear evident in her voice.

Patricia looked her, her face worried. "Not sure. Should get the girls upstairs though. Don't wanna scare them."

"I'll take them," Eliza offered before ushering the girls inside, to safety.

She hobbled quickly to the steps and ushered the girls to go up quickly ahead of her. She heard voice outside. She figured the man had gotten close.

"Eliza, do you think that man could be from my group?" Sofia questioned, with every ounce of hope she had in her voice.

Eliza glanced at the young girl, but she didn't answer. She wasn't sure how to answer her. Eliza opened up Beth's room, the girls following her in. Josie and Sofia both climbed onto the bed while Eliza lingered by the door so she could listen. She would protect these girls the best she could. She got a glance of Josie's big blue eyes and her heart faltered. She wouldn't fail her child. Never would she.

"Eliza?" she heard Sofia ask. "Do you think…?"

She had just asked. "I don't even know if he is friendly, Sofe."

"But it could be! Right?" Sofia was unsure and you could hear it in her voice.

"Maybe," Eliza murmured, hoping she wasn't giving Sofia any false hope.

"Patricia, I need my full kit. Maggie, painkillers, coagulates, grab everything. Clean towels, sheets, alcohol. Just about everything we used for Eliza," Hershel ordered. "Beth, go trade places with Eliza. She's got medical training I'm gonna need."

Eliza heard the young girl's footsteps as she ran up the stairs. Eliza left the room, yelling back at the younger girls to stay in the room with Beth. She ran into the room she had been residing in to find a man covered in blood and young boy on the table, bleeding profusely from his stomach.

"Is he alive?" the stranger questioned, he hadn't noticed Eliza.

"Eliza, grabbed that pillow case," Hershel instructed. Eliza grabbed the pillow case from Maggie and folded it into pad the wound. She sat on the bed lightly next to the young boy, applying as much pressure as she could to the wound. It looked like a gunshot wound. "I got a heartbeat, it's faint."

Eliza glanced up and saw the stranger relax when he heard the boy was still living. His dark hair was coated with sweat and grime. He was disgusting with blood, dirt and sweat coating his clothes and skin. Maggie pushed the man back, saying that they needed space to work. Once he had backed off, Patricia pushed him out of the room. Maggie handed the bag and IV to Eliza and took over applying pressure. Eliza set off quickly to inserting the IV. Even though she worked years ago, finding a vein and sticking the needle in was second nature.

"Can I have medical tape?" she asked looking up at Patricia or Maggie.

Patricia went through the bag quickly before throwing her the white tape, along with cotton pads. Eliza taped the IV down with a cotton pad covering it and hung up the bag on the bed post, squeezing it to get the fluids moving through the tube.

Hershel moved Maggie from covering up the entry hole to inspecting it more closely. Eliza leaned over to take a look with him. "Is there an exit hole?"

"No, which means it's still in there. However I think it's pretty messy in there. Bullet must of spit up; I see pieces," he replied, sighing.

Eliza nodded. "Not good. It probably nicked something with this amount of blood. He's gonna need blood Hershel."

"Good thing we can do that now," Hershel said, remembering how they had found the equipment out in the farm after Eliza had gotten better. It was old but it would do.

The man reentered, only he had Otis and another man with him. Eliza pushed down the uneasiness she felt so she could focus on helping the boy. It was hard. So very hard. The room was small, filled with so many people. One of the men came to stand behind her, which made her very uncomfortable. Her skin started to crawl as she shifted closer to the boy as the man came closer and closer. Dread filled her when he stopped near her shoulder. Neither Otis nor Jimmy came close to her. They knew better somehow. The closest was at the dinner table, but even then they distanced themselves, allowing one of the Greene girls and Josie to surround her.

"Rick, know his blood type?" Hershel asked him.

"Yeah, same as mine," Rick answered. He sounded weary, he didn't look all there. Eliza felt for him, figuring that he must be the boy's father. She would have been the same way.

"Don't wander far. I'm gonna need you." Hershel looked up to Otis after he had spoken. He looked very distressed over the whole situation. "What happened?"

Eliza listened to the story with one ear, but she was focused on taking the boys blood pressure which was steady for now to distract her mine from the man behind her. Eliza was sure his pressure was going to start falling soon though, unless those fragments hadn't nicked anything. She was highly sure they probably did however.

The shot had gone the deer Eliza heard Otis tell them.

"Deer slowed the bullet down," Eliza muttered to Hershel, who nodded in agreement.

"It did not go through clean," Hershel informs the two men. "It looks like the bullet broke up, split into pieces. I can get them out but I'm counting six…"

Rick began crying about how his wife didn't know about their son being shot. She glanced up with her green eyes and saw him crying, he truly looked upset. How could a parent not? She wondered if Gabe would have been upset like this if Josie was shot. She would be for sure. She would be inconsolable until Josie got better.

A part of Eliza wondered if Gabe had cried when he left, when he never came back. _When he died _a part of her mind whispered. No. He was alive somewhere, trying to get back to her and his daughter. He was not bit, changed somewhere into the walking dead. He was surviving, trying to find his way to his Harlow girls.

"I'm gonna try getting the fragment out," Hershel told her. "You'll need to hold him down. I'm not sure if the pain will wake him up."

"Of course."

"Patricia get Rick set up on the transfusion," he instructed.

Eliza rested her body weight against the boy's legs and upper torso, trying her best to stay out of Hershel's way. Hershel grabbed his tool of choice, already sterilized by Patricia, and started to poke around lighting in the whole. She heard him sigh before he dug down deep in the red hole in the boy's stomach. The boy woke instantly, crying out. He screamed for her father. He withered against Eliza's arms. She tried to keep him as still as possible. He shouldn't move much with Hershel digger into the wound.

"Move, I got him," she heard someone shout at her. Her shoulders tensed as she felt how close the man was to her. The yelling froze her in place. Her heart quickened, her mind fading. Her body still struggled to hold the boy down. "I said move!" The man behind her pushed her out of the way and Eliza fell ungraciously onto the floor.

She cried out as she landed on her thigh. She felt the stitches pull and liquid begin to flow. Tears welded in her eyes from the anxiety of the situation. Panic set in on her and she couldn't focus. She heard more shouting from Rick and Hershel and it only added to her increasing level of panic. Her chest was tight, her muscles frozen. She couldn't move, couldn't talk, see or hear. Somewhere Eliza heard someone say her name. She felt someone was pulling on her arm.

Then she was in the living room, on the couch. Maggie was crouched in front of her. She was mouthing something to her. Eliza thought it was her name, but she couldn't hear over the roar of her blood in her ears. She tried to focus but she couldn't shake the terror in her body. Maggie disappeared from her view but it was filled in a minute by her precious baby girl. Her golden-red hair appeared like a halo around her. Eliza's little angel. Stiffly, her arms went to hold Josie, bringing her tight against her in an embrace.

Slowly, Eliza could hear again. Her daughter was speaking to her, speaking nonsense but it calmed her. The roar died down and her vision began to focus on what was happening in front of her. The feel of her daughter calmed her with each minute. Her breathing returned to normal as she sat there listening to her daughter talk and talk away.

* * *

**Don't forget to tell me how you want Daryl and Eliza's first meeting to go!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Hello again! Thank you to Sorcelle Dragonmoon, mrskaz453 Amber, VampWolf92, nana, MyHairHurts, x XRoweenaJAugustineX and HarlowEmeraude for their reviews. I'm really sorry about the delay once again. I've started college and I just haven't had time to write what so ever. My friend has been giving me hell about it. So instead of writing my other two papers, here is this charming chapter. It's not much, meetings and such, but I already have next chapter and be prepared for an angry Daryl. I've been a freak too because of the premiere of SEASON FOUR. Norman looked hot didn't he? xD Thank you to everyone else that favorited or followed. If you wanna see anything in this story, let me know and I'll see what I can do. it can be characters of your own, certain plot things, anything. So onward! **

**I own nothing but Eliza, Josi****e and whatever characters you don't know. I would love to have Daryl all to myself though...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

Eliza looked up at Maggie. "Thank you."

"Of course. Some hell of a panic attack," she said, her eyes showing concern for the mother. Eliza had a few of them while she was at the farm house. Usually Patricia or Maggie were the ones around when she freaked out. She sat down next to Eliza, sighing loudly, looking at wound on her leg. "This is never gonna heal."

"Not at this rate." Eliza looked down at her leg and she could see some red spotting on the bandage. It really was never going to heal. She glanced up at Maggie. "Go steal me some bandages and sutures? I can clean it up myself."

Maggie stood but looked unsure. "Could you possibly, maybe walk me through it? So I could learn? I'm sure were all gonna need to know how to do this now."

"Sure Maggie," Eliza agreed smiling at her friend. She was happy with the thought of teaching her about stitches.

She looked around and saw Sofia standing off to the side of the room, unsure. The young girl had barely been with them for long and wasn't sure where she should go. There were tears trailing down her face; Eliza had probably scared the crap out the girl. Eliza beckoned her over to her and Sofia came to sit next to her.

"Are you okay?" Sofia gushed, hugging the woman who had made her feel welcomed and loved the past few days.

"Yeah," Eliza reassured her, smoothing Sofia's hand down with her free hand. "Someone pushed me and it triggered a panic attack. That's all."

"Okay. I wouldn't wanna lose you just after I lost my mother," Sofia told her. Eliza thought she might cry when she heard the young girl speak. "You've been the nicest here to me."

"I'll be here for you whenever you need me to be," Eliza said hugging to the girl to her side.

"Me too!" Josie piped in and Sofia smiled brightly at the young girl.

Her heartfelt moment with Sofia passed as Maggie came back, medical supplies in hand, followed by Shane. The man looked upset but he held himself strong. He reminded her of Gabe a bit; tall, broad and hid his feelings well. His brown eyes fell on Eliza, traveled down to the child on her lap then to the child next to her. Eliza watched as his eyes widened.

"Mr. Shane!" Sofia squealed, jumping off the sofa and running to hug the man around the waist.

The man looked dumbfounded, placing a shaky hand on her shoulder. "S-Sofia… you're alive!"

Sofia pulled back, looking sad. "Did you think I was dead? Does my mom think I'm dead?"

"No, no," he reassured her, kneeling down to her height. "I had my doubts. I've seen grown men get pulled down by the walkers. We were all so worried, especially your mother. That's where we were when Carl got shot, looking for you."

"Carl…got shot?" Eliza heard the sadness and fear riddled in her voice. "Because you were looking for me?"

"It's not your fault," Shane told her. "It was a complete accident."

She sniffled. "Can I see him?"

"Maybe later. The old man is cleaning him up," he answered her. "I'm just glad you're alive, Sofia."

"Me too."

Shane turned to Eliza then. She watched as his eyes traveled over her slowly before coming up to meet her eyes. She resisted the urge to shiver, feeling disgusted. "I'm sorry that I pushed you. It's just that Carl is like a son to me."

Eliza nodded, accepting his apology, but not wishing to talk to him. She turned her attention back to Maggie who sat down on the table in front of her. She scooted Josie off her lap so they could re-stitch her leg.

"Did I do that?" Shane asked, as she unwrapped the bandage around her leg, reveling the ugly gash.

"No, the fall ripped some stitches out," Maggie answered. Eliza threw her a thankful glance.

"Momma needs a band aid!" Josie exclaimed, looking horrified at the cut on her mother's leg. Her baby had never seen it before. "Momma, you always gets me a band aid when I gots a boo boo!"

Eliza smiled at her daughter silliness but it was Maggie who answered. "You know, I think I have some colorful ones upstairs in the bathroom. Maybe you Sofia could go and look."

"I'll get them!" Josie said and with a determined face, she grabbed Sofia's hand and they set off up the stairs.

"Okay so how do I do this?" Maggie asked looking at the needle before at Eliza's leg.

* * *

It was only after the Carl's surgery did Eliza and Patricia learn that Otis was dead. The older woman collapsed into tears against her. Eliza did her best to comfort her, knowing exactly what it was like to lose the man you loved. At least Patricia had closure on her loved one. Shane had saw Otis die. Gabe could still be out wondering the woods, hopefully as a human.

After putting Josie and Sofia to bed, she had laid on the couch, knowing she would be getting up often to check on Carl. She checked on Patricia throughout the night as well. Eventually, the woman had cried herself into a sleep around one. Lori and Rick slept next to Carl. Glenn, T-dog and Shane slept outside in tents which Eliza was thankful for. They had all been thankful to see Sofia alive and well; Rick had dissolved into tears. Maggie had felt so stupid for not telling the group when she had ridden out to grab Lori that the young girl was alive. She apologized profusely to Sofia because she didn't bring her mother to her.

It was morning now. Everyone stood outside on the porch when the other half of Rick's group drove up to the farm house. Sofia bounced next to Eliza, holding her hand. Eliza smiled at her knowing she was excited to see her mother again. The group took their time exiting the cars. They were tired and on the verge of defeat. They moved slowly toward Eliza and the rest of the inhabitants of the farm. There was only four of them; two men and two women.

It was the man on the motorcycle was the first to notice Sofia. His movements stilled to a stop as he hopped off his motorcycle, his eyes coming to rest on the little girl. An older woman exited from the car next to him, her face looking toward the ground. The man quickly nudged her and pointed to where Sofia stood.

Eliza watched as Carol's eyes fell upon her daughter. She heard her choke a sob as she fell to her knees, completely stunned that her daughter as standing just a few feet away from her, alive. Sofia ran to her mother yelling "Momma!" and they reunited in a hug. The motorcycle man placed a hand on Sofia's head ruffling her hair.

Eliza picked Josie up and held her on her hip. She kissed her forehead. Eliza never wanted to go through what Carol had did. Her daughter was safe in her arms and she really hoped it stayed that way.

"She was here?" an older man asked, his voice wavering.

"A man named Otis, and Jimmy here, had found her running from walkers. He brought her here and Hershel and his people had been looking after her," Rick explained to them.

"They are wonderful men," Carol said, still not done holding her daughter. "God sent."

"Otis is, unfortunately, dead. He died while getting the supplies needed to save Carl's life," Rick informed them. Eliza noticed that Patricia stiffen and her face waver at the mention of Otis' death. Hershel reached over and put a comforting hand on her shoulder and it seemed to steady Patricia. "He saved two children within his last days. He's a true hero."

"How is he?" the man with the hat asked, referring to Carl.

"He will pull through, thanks to Hershel and his people," Lori added.

Eliza could feel eyes drag across her and the rest of the group. The feeling of judgment filled her and she turned her attention to her daughter's dirty hands. She had been helping Maggie in the chicken coop beforehand. Her daughter needed a good bath it seemed.

Hugs were then exchanged. There was no more need for sad talk now. Carl was going to live and Sofia was alive. Eliza was going to escape from the large group when Rick's voice rang out. "I think we should introduce everyone, if you don't mind Hershel?"

"Once your boy is better Rick, you and your group will be gone. Better not give names for attachment sake," Hershel said. Eliza could tell he wasn't happy about all these people on his land. Of course she knew beforehand but to see his coldness now, she was glad he had deemed her worthy of staying.

"And we don't know when he's gonna get better. I just feel like my group would feel better knowing who's around them," Rick argued back.

Hershel took a deep breath. "Fine. I'm Hershel Greene and this here is my farm. These are my daughters Maggie and Beth. That's Jimmy and this is Patricia. And we also have Eliza and Josephine with us."

Rick rattled off his thanks and introduced his group. The man in the hat and the tropical shirt was Dale, who was the owner of the RV. The blonde was Andrea. The gruff motorcycle man was Daryl. Eliza had figured out the woman holding Sofia was Carol. Eliza wasn't sure if the last two were together or not.

Glenn and T-Dog had arrived last night. Eliza had shied away from both of the men, feeling bad because one looked really hurt. She just couldn't bring herself to get close enough to them. T-Dog was big and built. Glenn wasn't as intimidating but still, her heart started racing in fear.

* * *

Josephine wandered off from Beth. She was supposed to be watching her while her mother was being checked over by Hershel but she was too busy flirting with Jimmy to pay attention to the little girl like she usually did.

Josie was not one who typically wondered off but she was bored. Sofia was with her mother and her own mother couldn't play with her. She couldn't find Maggie so she wondered off. She walked down passed the barns, hearing the noises from the animals inside, watched the chickens for a bit before she came across a shiny machine sitting near one of the tents. It was big, towering over her. It looked like a bike that her father had bought her but only this one was scary and wasn't pink. It was black. Everything seemed to be black on it except the handlebars. Josie touched it and it was cold under her fingertips.

Daryl watched the girl as she walked about. When would mothers learn not to let their kid wonder off without someone? She was the blonde child that had been held by the young red-headed woman. Her hair wasn't quite blonde Daryl noticed, the red in it lit up while she walked about under the sun. She was small, way younger than Sofia or Carl. He kept his eye on her and she came closer to him, stopping to look at his motorcycle.

Daryl didn't know what he should do. Should he let her look at it? Yell at her to run away? Surely she couldn't cause any damage to the big machine. It might hurt her though he though. And little kids had a way to break anything. His mind was made up when she dragged her fingers across the black surface. He got up from his spot at his tent and stepped over to the kid.

"What da hell do ya think ya doin' kid?" he asked as he approached her, his voice gruff but not mean.

She turned around and took in one of the new men from the policeman group. His hair was unkempt. His face and clothes were covered in dirt. He looked scary, glaring down at her with bright blue eyes. And those eyes allowed her to not be scared of him. It was the only part of him that wasn't dark or dirty or messy.

"What's this?" she asked, ignoring his question, fascinated with that the big thing was.

"Motorcycle," Daryl grunted. "Now get out of here!"

"Who are you?" she asked him.

"Daryl," he told her.

"What's it do?" Josie asked, returning to the bike.

Daryl glared a bit at the kid for not leaving and asking even more questions. She reminded him why he didn't like kids so much. He wanted the little brat to be gone before her little fingers cause some sort of damage to his brother's bike. "It's like a car."

She looked back the motorcycle. "Goes fast?"

"Yeah, real fast," Daryl said. She reached out to touch it again and he knocked her fingers out of the way. "Don't touch!"

The little girl tensed and looked back at him. Her blue eyes challenged his. "Why not?"

"Because I told ya so," he said, amused at the child's spunk.

Josie looked back at the bike and asked another question. "Do you ride it?"

Daryl was dumbfounded. What the hell was with this half pint? Why did she feel the need to keep asking him questions instead of leaving him and his bike alone? "Shouldn't you be running back to your sister, kid?"

"Don't got no sister," she said, looking back up at him with the blue eyes.

"Who's that wom—" his question was cut short when a loud voice yelled out "JOSEPHNIE!"

Both Daryl and Josephine looked to where Eliza was standing on the porch. The worry in her voice stood out as she called out again. Daryl watched as the red head spotted the little girl next to him and tried to run off the porch but ended up hobbling.

"Josephine Val Harlow, get over here right now!" she yelled to her daughter as she made her way over to them.

"Bye, Mr. Daryl!" Josie said as she sped off toward her mother who had stopped a bit away from them.

Daryl watched as the young woman swung the girl up into her arms and hugged her close. Josephine said she wasn't her sister. He had no idea how they were related. She could have been her mother, aunt, cousin. They may have not been related and the woman had rescued her in this apocalypse. She looked exhausted however. Her eyes met his over Josephine's shoulder. He wasn't sure what they were saying. Maybe thank you, maybe stay the hell away from my daughter. He only knew they were as green as the leaves on the trees and that he couldn't look away until she turned her freckled face away, taking her daughter inside the farm house.


End file.
